1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to an arrangement for monitoring the wear status of a friction clutch in the drivetrain of a motor vehicle driven by an internal combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
A prior art arrangement for monitoring the wear status of a friction clutch is disclosed in German reference DE-OS 36 01 708. In this prior art arrangement, a wear detection circuit determines the frictional output instantaneously consumed in the friction clutch. The instantaneous clutch slip is determined from the difference between the instantaneous input speed for the clutch detected by a first speed sensor and the instantaneous output speed of the clutch detected by a second speed sensor and is multiplied by the value of the torque instantaneously present at the clutch. This torque is determined from the clutch position detected by a clutch position sensor or from the amount of fuel supplied instantaneously to the internal combustion engine with the assistance of engine characteristic data. The arrangement integrates the frictional output values occurring during a clutch engagement process, adds the successive engagement processes of associated frictional output value integrals taking into account the clutch actuation rate, and compares the resulting sum with a threshold value. If the sum exceeds the threshold, the arrangement indicates this by actuating a display device.
The load information presented by the display device of the known arrangement is suitable for displaying an instantaneous overloading of the friction clutch. However, its characterization of the wear status of the friction clutch is too vague to provide information that the driver can use to reduce wear on the friction clutch during normal driving operation in which there is no overloading of the friction clutch by altering in some way the manner of operating the clutch, i.e., by changing the way that the driver operates the motor vehicle.